The primary sites that DPA worked on were the new Copenhagen Opera House which opened last year, and the Glassalen, a beautiful 1,000 seat glass concert hall in the Tivoli Gardens. A similar selection of mics were used across both venues, including 4091s for guitar and bass amps. The 144 dB SPL handling of this recently-introduced mic means it can meet just about any challenge on stage, including mic'ing an electric guitar amp, where it is capable of much greater clarity and bite than a normal dynamic microphone.
Typically, 4007s were used on bass drums, 4015s on snares, 4011s on hi-hats and 4021s on toms, with 4011s or 3521s in ORTF configuration as overhead drum mics. 4011s were also used for saxophone, trumpet, trombone, bandoneon and harmonica, with 4021s in VH4000 holders on double bass and acoustic guitar. Additionally, DPA's Tonmeister and product specialist Mikkel Nymand mounted 3521 stereo kits consisting of two carefully matched 4021 compact cardioids in the grand piano of each venue, where they remained for the duration of the festival.
"Besides the microphones' sonic excellence, this kit also offers some of the best mounting accessories for a grand piano on stage," says Nymand. "The 4021s in goosenecks on magnet mounts can be placed all around the piano frame, making it easy to find the most natural sounding spot in each specific piano. Usually no - or very little - EQ is needed and the piano lid can be raised, lowered or even closed, according to preference. It's a very elegant solution as it removes the need for big stands on stage, and every engineer and piano player loved it during the festival."
At the Opera House, the range of DPA mics were used on shows by the Herbie Hancock Quintet, Andy Bey, Dianne Reeves, Michel Portal and Richard Galliano, Michel Camillo and Tomatito, and Salif Keita. "The band engineers were especially impressed by the magnet-mounted piano system for the 4021s mics, which we used on the piano most of the time," says Tobias Berg, house engineer at the venue throughout. "One of the engineers asked for the system specifically, as he had only been using it a couple of days before and really liked the sound. We also made interesting use of a 4061 mounted on the acoustic guitar for Tomatito - a really impressive setup, with a mic right in front of the guitar.
"Speaking personally, DPA microphones are among my absolute favourites as they add virtually nothing unwanted to the sound, and are excellent at bringing out the unique quality of each instrument."
DPA Microphones A/S is a manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments.
(Chris Henry)
